The Attitude at Altitude
by Guatemalan Rooster
Summary: When the Doctor (10) and Amelia Earhart show up at the precinct, Olivia Benson is left with a mystery of what is going on while attempting to keep up with the Doctor's fast talk and facial expressions.
1. Chapter 1: Who Are You?

Chapter 1: Who are you?

Olivia had been burning the candle at both ends for two weeks straight. What started as a missing college girl turned into a rape/homicide case then turned into one of the biggest human trafficking busts ever. At least from their own department. Olivia had been going through every case file she could get her hands on to make sure all of the T's were crossed and I's dotted. This was one case that couldn't get lost on technicality. So, for those two weeks, she got so little sleep she couldn't even remember what month it was, let alone the time of day. The operators of the human trafficking ring had that day finally been given their guilty verdict and sentencing. Olivia could almost finally rest. Almost. Part of her end of this had been interviewing several prostitutes, attempting to gain evidence and testimonies against the human traffickers. Mostly the uni's had been bringing in ladies who had no ID on them, and this had paid off. She had left the court house to go home following the final verdict, when a text from the Captain had alerted her to one final young lady to interview. Even with enough evidence for a verdict, Olivia didn't want anything left undone. All she knew was that this one had what was described as "novelty ID". She assumed it was just a poor fake, she had no idea as to what the next 48 hours would have in store for her.

She arrived to the station to find Fin attempting conversation with … well, no one. He was practicing what he wanted to say to the lady at Olivia's desk. She wasn't at all dressed like a prostitute. More like an thirties aviator wanna-be. "Fin, is that the girl the Uni's brought in?" Asked Olivia. Startled that she had snuck up on him, Fin blurted out "yeah, she didn't have real ID." "Oh, really? Is that why they brought her in? For simply not having ID?" Olivia had been frustrated at some of the Uni's for bringing in suspects without any strong (or real) reason for doing so, but what was done was done. "Fin, where did all this sand come from?" Fin looked at the trail of sand and shrugged in confusion.

Giving up on the mystery of the sand, Olivia approached the strange woman. "Hello, my name is Olivia, what's yours?" Coming alert, the girl responded: "oh hello, my name is Amelia, how long am I going to be here?" Olivia could sense the frustration. "Not too long, I just had some questions, is this your ID here?" She pointed to the odd looking paper on her desk. With a simple nod, Olivia picked up the paper. "This is your ID?" "Yes" "Seriously?" "Yes" "Could you state your full name please?" She sighed. "Amelia Earhart." "And this is your actual ID?" "Yes." "What year were you born?" "I'm 39." "okay, but what year?" "...you won't believe me, no one does." "No. You can talk to me. No matter how crazy." "You have no idea how crazy." "Try me." "I was born in 1897." Olivia didn't know what to say "..." Amelia responded to Olivia's silence in kind. "..." "...Do …. you know what year it is now? You don't look your supposed age."

Olivia had no idea how to handle this. Maybe it was lack of sleep. She was trying to determine if this Amelia was up to something or just crazy, but all her responses seemed honest. So she decided to play along for a bit. Thankfully Amelia was the first to break the silence"Thank you? Actually, I don't know which year this is, hard to keep track lately." Amelia and Olivia shared another silence. "It's what your ID says, but I wanted to hear it from you." "..." Olivia couldn't wait through another silent moment "... Can you excuse me for a minute?" "Sure."

Olivia stepped into Captain Cragen's office. "So, the woman who claims to be Amelia Earhart, are we letting her go? Transferring her to a psychologist? Social Services? What?" "Amelia, the uni's picked her up by mistake, but this seems rather … similar to a …. situation I encountered when I was new on the force." He motioned to one of his pictures when he was younger, standing next to a man Olivia didn't recognize. "Wow, that's a long scarf. His hat is too low, who is that?" "Still not sure really Liv, he had a weird biker friend." Assuming things were getting off track, she refocused on what she did know. "So, what do we do with her?" "Not sure, either way, I'm not even supposed to be here with THAT investigation going on, I'm just here to pick up a few things from my desk. I could speculate that Fed over there might be related to this."

At that moment a man who Olivia didn't recognize entered and apparently presented ID that was good enough for the front desk to let him keep walking. He certainly was dressed like a fed. Almost. "He looks like one I suppose, but, captain, when did feds smile? Or wear red converse?" "Don't know, but he seems to know our so-called aviator, why don't you find out?" Way too overcome with morbid curiosity to remember how little sleep she had, Olivia went to confront the new visitor. But not before Amelia chimed in: "Finally, may I go now?" "Well, you didn't do anything wrong, so sure, we just wanted to ask a few questions and that's done now." She turned to face the visitor. "Hi, my name's Olivia, and you are …?"

The cheerful response came thus: " 'Ello, I'm the Doctor!"


	2. Chapter 2: May Day!

Chapter 2: May Day!

1937: Pacific Ocean

The plane soared over the crystal blue ocean. Amelia Earhart could see for miles in all directions. She was particularly fond of the various beaches and islands they came across. The Pacific was a beautiful place to be, and she enjoyed every minute of it.

Off in the distance, however, Amelia could see some storm clouds. She knew everything would be fine if she increased altitude and simply flew over it. As she did this, the beauty of the ocean below was obscured by the storm. She was a bit nervous, but knew everything would be okay. That even though she couldn't see the islands or ocean, she knew that despite the storm that the beauty of it was still there. The storm didn't destroy the beauty, it simply masked over it. No, the storm could never destroy the beauty of nature. Amelia was still a bit on edge, but knew in her head and in her heart that the beauty of nature was still there on the other side of the storm, she just couldn't physically see it was all.

The storm had its thunder and lightning, but she knew what she was doing and trusted what her instruments told her. But then she thought she heard her navigator, Fred, say "Eight" but there was a thunder and lightning flash as well. She turned to look over her right shoulder but he was lost in a map and hadn't said anything. Turning back to face front, she thought she heard something again. Again it was covered by thunder. This time she thought she heard "X". "X what?" she asked, but Fred didn't respond. Then a thought occurred to her. Some flashing had been lighting, but some seemed to be … closer to the plane. She turned to the left and couldn't believe what she saw. Then she heard a word. This time without thunder. This word, not in Fred's voice. It wasn't over the radio either. She heard it loud and clear, both ominous and deadly.

The word:

"EX-TER-MIN-ATE!"

There was a flash of light from this . . . flying object. It struck the plane, and killed the engine. Doing no other damage, Amelia knew she could glide to a lower altitude, and maybe land. Assuming what just attacked didn't keep attacking. Though, seemingly content with its victory, the object appeared to fly elsewhere.

Finding an island to crash land on, Amelia and Fred knew not what to do next. They were alive, but the engine, and the radio, were both dead. Then they saw, with dread, the object approach with two other objects of similar appearance. Then a fourth object, a rectangular blue box. This blue box seemed to pulse with a light. The other objects seemed to almost . . . tremble with fear, before all exploding. The blue box vanished. Amelia and Fred looked at each other in disbelief. Then they heard a voice call out "hello! I'm the Doctor, are you alright?" They turned and saw him, standing next to his blue box.

"Sorry about that, those nasty Daleks!" He walked closer, "Don't worry though, I found their self-destruct code, though I doubt it'll work a second time. How's your plane? Nobody hurt right?" Amelia and Fred are silent, not sure how to comprehend what just happened. "Right, okay, you two need a lift anywhere? I can take you anywhere." "You can take us anywhere?" "Yes." "Anywhere?" "Anywhere." "How?" "The TARDIS." He smugly points at the blue box. Amelia and Fred together: "The what?" "I'll show you. Allons-y!"

They follow him, unsure, into the Tardis. Amelia is the first to compose herself. "It's bigger . . . on the . . . inside?" Fred following. "How?" "Time And Relative Dimension In Space! The TARDIS! Can go anywhere we want! Laws of dimensions and space and some other fun stuff, never mind that, we can go anywhere!" "Anywhere?" "Anywhere. We could even go to New York of the future, but it's the 15th New York so it really is New New New New New New New New New New New New New New New York. I heard the Face of Boe is there so we could pop by a visit to him?" "I don't know who that is. How about our own New York?" "Why not? Your New York it is! I just have to get the coordinates right. Silly planets have to keep moving and such!" Fred still not quite understanding " . . . um . . . what?"

The Doctor bounced around his console, pulling levers and twisting knobs. I whirring noise emanated from the console and the whole place shook like there was no tomorrow. And there wasn't one, they were going somewhere else. Then some major shaking happened and the Doctor started yelling incomplete sentences. Amelia tried to listen but only heard some bits like "bounced off of something", "fixed point in time" and "Already went there?" Nothing made sense. Then it stopped and the Doctor declared: "That was weird, but we're here!" They exited the TARDIS in the middle of New York City! Amelia and Fred were astonished, but the buildings were the only things they recognized.

Fred stammered about, before inquiring. "...where are we?" "New York." "Doesn't look like New York." "It is!" Fred was wagering he knew more than the Doctor. "I don't remember it this way, since when did New York have lights like these, and what manner of automobiles are these!?" "Here, let's find a newspaper, you humans are always reading papers." "...us what?"

Fred and the Doctor found a paper and began a heated debate on what the year was. Amelia, on the other hand was fascinated by the Times Square lights and accidentally wandered into traffic. By the time the Doctor had finished explaining time travel to Fred, they looked up to see the flashing lights of a police car . . . drive away with Amelia in the back!

The Doctor let out a frustrated sigh. "Why do they always wander off? Come on Fred, let's get after her."


	3. Chapter 3: Setting Boundaries

Chapter 3: Setting Boundaries

New York City 23 May 2012

"Doctor? Doctor who … ?" The doctor had heard that same question so many times, and now Olivia had become the latest. "Nope, just the 'Doctor'." Olivia had followed them outside, where Fred was waiting anxiously. "So, I'm curious, where will you go now?" Amelia looked at the Doctor. "Well Doc, you gonna take us home now?" "Well" The Doctor stated, looking in the distance and making another of his faces, "we could try again, though I'm not sure why we couldn't the first time, it's not like I've been to New York in the late 1930's, maybe I go there later?"

Olivia was the most confused she had ever been. Yet, she was determined to see this woman get home as well as learn anything that would may sense out of any of this, if only Elliot were here to help her keep sane. "Do you have a car, or do you need a ride?" Olivia offered. "Sure, we're parked near Times Square, if you still call it that." Fred replied. "...okay, well that's no problem for me, my car is over here."

As they piled into her car, the Doctor didn't put on his seat belt and seemed annoyed by how 'slow' and 'confining' it was. Meanwhile, Amelia and Fred seemed completely amazed by every boring detail that modern driving included. Olivia needed more information, as well as to break yet another awkward silence. "You know, if you really don't want to tell me your real names that's fine. But it is a bit insulting for me. I grew up with hearing stories about Amelia Earhart, she was one of my inspirations. I mean, before she disappeared." "What? What do you mean I disappeared? It's because the Doctor isn't it?"Everyone was silent and the Doctor was pondering how to handle it. But when Amelia saw the uncertainty in his face she prodded "Well? . . . " "...yeah …. about that …. you and Fred were never seen again after that crash. Not in the 1930's anyway. I'm so sorry, but I don't know if can help you get home. At least not precisely where I found you time-wise."

Olivia slammed the brakes. "Explain that right now, and in terms everyone understands. Don't be THAT type of person to purposefully speak over our heads!" Her lack of sleep had definitely lowered her tolerance levels enough, now the Doctor seemed unable to get these people home.

Th Doctor began to explain himself"I travel. A lot. And I travel not only distance, but time as well." "Okay..." "The thing is, time isn't a straight line. It's more, wibbly-wobbly. Some things can happen in any number of different ways, but some events, places and even people are "fixed points in time" they must happen in a particular order. They must not be altered. Otherwise there will be an unsolvable paradox that could unravel the entirety of existence." This explanation was met by everyone's collective silence. "These two pilots disappeared over the Pacific Ocean and were never seen again. I can't take them home, but I couldn't leave them on that island." The group was processing this new information."Look, you don't have to do this, we can walk from here."

One by one they left the car where it was. They found themselves crossing through a cemetery. Olivia had been here not too long ago, for Sister Peg's funeral. Things had gotten a bit emotional for her, and Elliot had sensed it enough to help her away from the group. She had somehow found solace in teasing him about one of the tombstones having his name on it. She even saw it again, but had to keep pace with the rest so she kept walking.

Olivia, composing herself."You should still try. I still have no idea how this is happening, but I'm not going to let this woman be left in some strange place."

The Doctor crossed the street, and the rest followed along. Olivia was again perplexed, this time by the three of them stuffing themselves into a rather tiny looking box. Yet once inside. "... how, is this bigger . . . . on the inside? How did you get a permit for this?" "Trans-dimensional space. No permits" Olivia shot him a glare and the Doctor retreated to the console. "Alright, New York City 1937, attempt two, allonsy!

More shaking, whirring and general crashing happened than anyone really wanted. "I don't think we made it where we wanted to go …." Everyone's stunned silence was beginning to perturb him. "It looks cold out, everyone grab a coat." The doctor showed them the wardrobe and handed out coats to everyone.

The outside was frigid and covered in snow. It looked like they were in a mountain range. They wondered for a bit when they heard a scream. Olivia had heard that type of scream before and was into a full sprint before anyone could say anything. It didn't matter that she didn't know where she was or where she was running. She knew someone needed help rather desperately.

Finding a tent, Olivia ripped the fur covering off and entered, gun drawn. She saw the man, and the tormented woman on the floor. She didn't need to hear anything to know what was about to happen . . . had she not intervened. The TARDIS translator assisted. Olivia gave out a stern warning. "Step away from her, she's not consenting to you, isn't she?" "How dare you enter the tent of Genghis Khan! You shall bleed for this!" As Genghis Khan rushed after her, she fired a shot into him. He fell to the ground as the rest of the group arrived.

Olivia, justified herself. "He was going to rape her, I had to stop it." After a moment. "We just time traveled into the distant past and I shot Genghis Khan. Yes. That just happened."


	4. Chapter 4: After Math

Chapter 4:

In the TARDIS: Still 1227 AD but an hour later

Somehow the Doctor got everyone back to the TARDIS, it took an hour evading several mongol scouts, but they got in. There were a handful banging on the door, but had no way of getting in. "Doctor, how did we get here when we wanted to go to NEW YORK!?" "Normally the planets not only spin and move in their circles around a star, but the solar system itself moves constantly through space. In addition there seems to be a barrier of some sort for where and when specifically we want to go."

Olivia turned toward the others. "Does he always talk this fast?" Amelia and Fred nodded in agreement. "Either way, I've always wanted to meet you, may we excuse ourselves of these two and talk?" "Sure." The Doctor pulled a box of spare parts from under the console. "While you have a chat, I'll see what I can do with this console." The doctor emptied the box on the floor in order to find the part he wanted. Then he gave the console a smack with a wrench and Fred noticed something unusual in the box of spare parts. The girls walked down a corridor to talk. "Doctor? Is this Olivia's badge? I think she dropped it." "Huh? Oh, that happens, I'm sure she'd like it back." The doctor hadn't even looked as he was now under the console messing about with wires and switches. "I think it might be hers, unless you have one? Do you? All this says is a number. '6313' is it yours?" "It's not mine." "I'll just hold on to it then. Do you need any help?" "Do you know anything about trans-Dimensional space-craft?" "...No." The Doctor leaped up.

"Fred, were the last one out when we left?" "Yes, I think so, why?" "Did you leave the door open?" "...um, perhaps, didn't want to lock us out." "Well, you didn't lock someone else out, there's a part missing!" The gunshots and stomping of feet from behind them answered the Doctor's fears. "Doctor, what are these!?" "Doctor, why can't bullets stop these things!?"

"YOU WILL ALL BE …. UPGRADED!" came the vocal response. The Doctor looked on as two Cybermen chased Amelia and Olivia down a corridor. Another two turned to march towards the Doctor. The Cyberman again declared "YOU WLL BE UPGRADED OR DELETED!" "Not while I'm breathing! Delete this!" The Doctor flipped on his sonic screwdriver. No results. The Doctor changed the setting and sent the signal again. A part of the wall became super-magnetized. This drew the two cybermen, the police badge and several small console parts onto the wall. The Doctor wouldn't let go of his sonic. "Come on, I want to keep my sonic." He then attached a lanyard to it to keep it tied to his wrist. He then cautiously approached the cybermen and used his sonic to deactivate them. Then he demagnetized the wall and the metal parts fell harmlessly to the ground. As Fred looked on "How? Why? What just happened?"

Down the Corridor

"Amelia, I'm out of bullets, where are we going?" "I don't know, I haven't been down to this part of his ship before." As they rounded a bend the wall closed off and they heard what sounded like the cybermen falling down a very deep hole. They were then approached by another girl. "Hello, I'm Clara!" Amelia and Olivia looked at each other incredulously.

Olivia wanted answers, but everything that happened only produced more questions. "How long have you been down here?" Amelia shrugged "I stopped asking questions by now, I just want to fly again . . ." Clara, knowing the question was for her "Not too long, I followed the Great Intelligence into the heart of the TARDIS to stop him from hurting the Doctor. He was the one who let the Cybermen into the TARDIS. I learned how to adjust the corridors to my advantage. I think the Cybermen turned on the Great Intelligence though, so once all the Cybermen are gone, we don't have to worry."

Olivia had now heard everything. "Oh. Okay then. This is Amelia Earhart and I'm a detective from New York and nothing makes sense anymore." Clara's laugh was genuine, but didn't exactly help. "ha ha. Yeah, that does happen with the Doctor." "We should get back to the Doctor." Amelia and Clara nodded in agreement and they were off.

A minute later Olivia and Amelia made it back to the console. "Where's Clara?" "I don't know, she was right behind us." The Doctor interjected "Are you two alright then?"

Olivia was beyond ticked at this point "No. We're not. We've been chased by mongols and robots and there was a girl with a remote for changing walls and nothing makes sense! So you better take us all back and explain everything!" "I'm sorry, it's been rough for me as well. I recently lost my companions and it's lonely. You don't understand what I've lost and …

Now Olivia had heard enough "I don't understand!? I've lost my partner and don't even know why! I mean, I thought it would be me and Elliot forever, but then he just up and leaves! So don't tell me I don't understand. Now, you don't have to do anything alone, but you have to open up more than you have and be honest about the dangers involved with this type of travel.

The Doctor perked up. "You're Olivia!?" "What?" "You are! You are! He talked about you all the time!" "Whaaat?" "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. There was nothing I could do." "Whaaaaaaaat?"


	5. Chapter 5: Leatherheads

Chapter 5: Leatherheads

New York City 18 May 2011

Elliot had just turned in his letters of resignation. Captain Cragen didn't like it, but what was done was done. He accepted them but directly told Elliot that he would be welcome back anytime. Elliot doubted it would happen. Way too many things were on his mind. He went for a very long walk before he had to make his other decision. As he walked he found himself down an alleyway. He still didn't know what to say to Olivia, let alone how to say it. So he had asked the Captain to tell her.

He got to the end of the alley and there, standing before him, was the TARDIS. Elliot looked at it for a time that seemed like forever. He then took a deep breath. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the key that the Doctor had given him. A few seconds after entering, the TARDIS had vanished.

"Elliot, glad you're back. Here, take a banana, they're fan-tastic." As Elliot bit into the banana, the Doctor set the TARDIS to the proper coordinates and off they went. The Doctor (9) looks over at Elliot. "Ready?" Elliot's reply. "There's no such thing as being ready. You just jump on and try not to die. Is everything prepared?"

"Isn't that the truth! Operation Oncoming Storm is almost ready. We just need to make a stop along the way."

The TARDIS appeared into a banana grove. The Doctor and Elliot exited into the field.

After a few paces, Elliot ponders aloud. "Are we here for more bananas?" "Yes. That was the last one." "You sure like them. Is this Earth or somewhere else?" "Nope, another planet in the future. There used to be a weapons factory here. Specialized in sonic guns. I prefer my Sonic Screwdriver myself – it's still sonic!" Elliot smirked. "It's a beautiful planet. Do you think now is a good time?" The Doctor looked pensive. "You aren't letting up about this, aren't you?" "No Doctor, I'm not. You know we'll need to talk about this at some point. Otherwise ..." "Yes, I know, my emotions will bottle up and I'll snap and kill a planet of Daleks and then we'll pretend to be sad about it and listen to violins playing."

Elliot's countenance told the Doctor that sarcasm wasn't going to work again. "I've told you, we haven't had similar enough..." "No Doctor, we've both been to war. It wasn't on the same scale or the same enemies or technology. But it was still war. And you still show every sign of suppressed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. So we're talking this out." The Doctor let out a sigh: "Well, it was a war and it was bad. A lot of people died and I couldn't stop it." "So how did it end?" "Well, it was going to go on and on and on. It was going to spread out across the whole universe. It had to stop." "And how did you stop it." "A very bad option that was the least bad of them all." The Doctor and Elliot continued walking while the Doctor spoke of the Time War and how Gallifrey fell.

When they reached the Tardis, they paused for one last look at the planet they had visited. "Sometimes, I wonder if love was really one of the fairy tales, or if perhaps it died out somewhere along the way. Then again, if love is a lie then it is the most beautiful lie there is." Elliot turned to him, "I don't think so. I think that not only is love true, it IS the truth, it is the only truth. Nothing has meaning if there is no love. The entire universe and everything in it would have no meaning, no purpose, no reason to exist. That is what love is. I think that's the correct way of seeing it.

The Doctor started setting the coordinates and off they went. "Pull the blue lever please." As Elliot pulled the lever, the shaking went down, then way up. "Nope, too far, push it back a bit!" The Tardis stopped shaking. Once settled the Doctor went pulled a box from under the console. "There are some major Geo-magnetic disturbances on this planet, you shouldn't have any metal when we leave the Tardis." Elliot put his badge, wallet and keys into the box. "Are we expected?" "Of course, everthing has been arranged. Grab the bag." Elliot grabbed the Army Green duffel bag while the Doctor grabbed what looked like a large computer tablet. "Ready?" "Ready."

Upon exiting the Tardis, they wondered into a mostly flat landscape. To the west in the distance was a mountain range that extended for as far as the eye could see in both directions. To the east was more flat, desolate land. The general area appeared to once be home to a forest, but now stood empty. This was once a large forest, but the Daleks laid waste to the planet. There weren't many survivors. They didn't talk much further as they ventured forth into the nearby village.

They were at once surrounded by children. Screaming excitedly as they entered the village. Elliot bent down on one knee and opened his bag. He reached in and produced a hand full of bananas that he started distributing to the kids. The Doctor took his sonic and began scanning the immediate area while viewing the results on his tablet. "Do you see what I mean Doctor? You call yourself "the Doctor" and this is what Doctors do. They heal." "Yes, and they also protect. It looks like their source of power is fluctuating. I'll go see if I can stabilize it. We only have a short time until the next Geo-magnetic storm comes along."

The Doctor entered what looked like a crude shack, with a large battery inside. An elderly man was seated in a chair and looked up at him. "You're back! Did you bring the tool you spoke of?" "Of course, but I can't make any promises. You have parts from two different space ship engines connected to a battery and a rudimentary solar panel. There may not be much more I can do. But if I can stabilize it, then the plasma-ion shields will protect the village from the next storm. If not, I can extend the shields from the Tardis to cover the village." "Is there another storm coming soon then Doctor?" "Yes, there doesn't seem to be a routine pattern to them, but I can see from the scan that there is another one soon."

The Doctor began his work. Tinkering with fuses and wires while using his sonic. After a few minutes, there was a whirring noise and some lights blinked on. "There, it'll do for now." "Thank you, thank you very much!" replied the elderly man. The Doctor exited the building to see the shield fully operational, as well as a dazzling display of lights as the storm passed over the area. Elliot walked over to where the Doctor was standing. "So, does that fix their problem?" "Not yet, we still need to install a stabilizing device in the planets core and an array of satellites around the planet. They'll send signals to dampen the instability of the planet's gravity. It isn't a perfect fix, but the people are too stubborn to leave their home." "Where to next?" "Well, where would you like to go?" "I've always wanted to see the Boston Tea Party. Suppose we stop there when we're done here?"


End file.
